A new study from Czech biotech startup Bene Meat Technologies reveals that cultivated meat for pets could dramatically reduce the environmental impact of traditional pet food. According to a life-cycle assessment (LCA), the company’s cultivated meat generates at least 84% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than beef—and up to 95%, depending on how the beef is produced.
The LCA, conducted in partnership with the Czech Technical University in Prague and peer-reviewed by sustainability expert Professor Jon McKechnie from the University of Nottingham, is said to be one of the most detailed evaluations of the environmental effects of industrial-scale cultivated meat production.
Major Reductions in Land Use and Emissions
Bene Meat’s cultivated meat requires just 3.1 square meters of land to produce one kilogram of food—compared to beef, which can use up to 120 square meters. Pork and chicken production require about 7.2 and 6.6 square meters per kilogram, respectively. The company projects future improvements could reduce the land use of its product to just two square meters per kilogram.
In terms of carbon emissions, the cultivated meat currently emits 5.28 kg of CO₂ equivalent per kilogram, with expectations to lower this to 3.29 kg. Conventional beef, by contrast, produces between 33 and 100 kg of CO₂e per kg. Even chicken emits around 10 kg of CO₂e—roughly double the emissions of Bene Meat’s product.
These figures include all inputs, from energy use to raw materials and equipment manufacturing. Production head Petr Bebeníček noted that over half of the emissions come from raw material suppliers, suggesting the company’s own processes are highly optimized.
Study Sets Benchmark for Cultivated Meat Industry
“This is the first LCA based on actual production data,” said media coordinator Kateřina Dvořák Vašová. “We’re proud of the results and believe there’s even more room to cut emissions further.”
The findings support those from earlier studies, including a 2021 peer-reviewed analysis which showed cultivated beef could cut climate impact by 92%, reduce air pollution by 94%, land use by 95%, and water use by 78%.
“Our research shows cultivated meat can significantly outperform traditional beef in terms of sustainability,” said Miroslav Žilka from the Czech Technical University, who led the study. Žilka is scheduled to present the results at the International Scientific Conference on Cultured Meat in Maastricht, Netherlands, and the full analysis will be published in a scientific journal.
Next Steps in Commercialization
Bene Meat aims to launch its cultivated meat as a feedstock supplier in the pet food market. The company was the first to register cultivated pet food as a feed material in the EU. It has also applied for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Currently, only UK-based Meatly is approved to sell cultivated meat for pets, with plans to launch in 2025.
In preparation for commercialization, Bene Meat has built a cell bank with more than 5,000 stored samples and plans to use different cell lines for pet food and human food. It recently introduced its first cultivated beef burger for humans, and expects similar sustainability results.
“We see this study as a key milestone,” said Tomáš Kubeš, head of strategic projects at Bene Meat. “It confirms the potential of cultivated meat as a sustainable and scalable protein source for the future.”
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